Trump Aide: China Engaged in ‘Economic Warfare’

China is not a normal country and will not be treated as such by President Donald Trump, an administration official said Thursday.

Sebastian Gorka, a deputy assistant to the president, responded to a question on “The Laura Ingraham Show” about reports that China plans to invest $200 million in a Mexican auto plant that will export 10,000 vehicles.

“But we also know that China for the last decade has been acting in terms of, almost, the best word would be economic warfare.”

“Mexico’s an incredibly important country to America,” he said. “But we also know that China for the last decade has been acting in terms of — almost the best word would be economic warfare.”

Gorka pointed to Chinese mercantile trade policies and its construction of artificial islands and military bases in the South China Sea.

“They are a nation that may not [be] going to war with the West, but will exploit every potential possibility to create double-digit growth for that nation, which is what it has to maintain,” he said.

Gorka compared China to Iran, a nation that drew a strong rebuke Wednesday from National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

“This is, again, a nation that isn’t like any other,” Gorka said. “You can’t compare Iran or China to Belgium or Vanuatu. These are anti-statist actors and they must be understood as such.”

Gorka declined to discuss specific strategy regarding Iran, but added that it would contrast sharply with the approach by former President Obama.

“This is a new dawn, a new day,” he said. “This is a new administration, which has re-established our relations around the word. In the last eight years what have we seen? We’ve seen a peculiar, almost oxymoronic statement of leading from behind.”

He said those days are over.

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“The American Republic … is back on the scene,” he said. “We are not going to hide ourselves or apologize for ourselves. And our friends will welcome that, and our enemies have been put on notice.”

Gorka said Trump is governing just as he campaigned.

“Nobody should be surprised that a man who wins the election proceeds, once he’s in office, to actually execute the promises that he made to the people who elected him,” he sad.